Budding
by SamCyberCat
Summary: Baron Augustus and Lady Viola are welcoming their newborn child, Flora, into the world and have invited Bruno to join them.


**Notes:** Augustus Reinhold was the next character on the list to write about, but this fic ended up being more about Bruno. I definitely couldn't pass up the chance to write some fluff about Flora's birth though, so I hope you all enjoy this little fic. Also, Viola is called Violet in the US version I've been told, just in case anyone more familiar with that version is confused by the different name here.

* * *

Although it wasn't his place to state objections to someone who was practically his employer (no matter how close of friends they were), Bruno did not see why he needed to be here today. This was suppose to be a family time, that feeling cemented by the fact that Lady Viola had requested a home birth. Old-fashioned, perhaps, but Bruno couldn't help but wonder how messy this would be. Thank goodness that he'd gotten Matthew up and running, ready to deal with these sorts of cleaning duties.

But yes, Baron Augustus had specifically asked for Bruno to be present at the birth of his heir. If this decision was uncomfortable for anyone else they did not show it, as much as Bruno wished that they would. Because he was uncomfortable himself. His place was in his workshop, happily tinkering away on all of his robotic projects. Not here, feeling like a useless loose end as Augustus and the servants fussed around Viola.

She was obviously in a lot of pain. Even someone as graceful as Viola couldn't get through a terrible experience like child birth without many tears and shouts. It made Bruno wonder how people could put themselves through this for countless generations. Creating robotic life was much less painful and bloody...

Eventually it all ended, however. The child was brought into the world and Viola cradled her in shaky, weak arms. It was hard to ignore in this moment how frail Viola truly was. Something like this must have pushed her very far and it was fortunate that more damage hadn't been done today. Certainly Augustus seemed to feel the same way, as he put his arms around Viola, both of them looking down at their newborn baby girl.

Bruno was starting to consider this a good time to slip out of the room, but the Baron was quicker than that.

"Bruno! Come here and take a look at our beautiful Reinhold heir!" Augustus boomed. He was always a loud and jovial man, today only amplifying that.

Not wanting to cause offence, Bruno came across to stand on the opposite side of the bed to Augustus. He peered across at where the small child lay in her mother's arms. She was a small baby, all pink and lumpy, with the beginnings of hair pressed flat against her head. Naturally she looked almost as tired as Viola was. They had both been through a great ordeal, after all.

"We're going to call her Flora," whispered Viola, "Our little flower..."

"That name suits her," mumbled Bruno.

In truth, he wasn't yet sure if it did. Flora had just come into the world and it would take much more time for her to decide if her name suited her or not, but this seemed like the right sort of thing to say. Bruno wasn't good with words, but he did feel a genuine fondness looking at this small child. While robots would always be his preference for creating life, he wasn't going to deny that Flora was a darling little miracle all by herself. She would breathe much needed new inspiration into the Reinhold estate.

"You wouldn't believe how many names we went through until we found one that fit," Augustus laughed, "At first we couldn't agree on anything. But then we came across Flora and we both just knew that was the one."

"...And we're going to do everything we can to make sure she lives a long and happy life," Viola added.

It was a tragic thing, really. Almost cruel. As they all knew that Viola herself had little more than a few short years left for this world, if she was lucky. She was wishing that Flora could have the life that she herself could not have.

"She'll have everything she could ever want," assured Augustus, "The park is already in its planning stages, though I fear it will be a few years before it sees completion. Just wait until you see the designs for the Ferris Wheel, my dear, you're going to love it."

As the two of them looked into each other's eyes, Bruno regarded them. He knew they were good for each other. They were both soppy and sentimental, but more than that, they kept each other optimistic. Augustus would rarely talk about Viola's illness unless it was unavoidable. Instead he would focus his efforts on making her remaining time here as fun and filled with love as it possibly could be. In return, Viola kept Augustus grounded. Having known him long before the two of them were married, Bruno would be the first person to say that the Baron needs someone to stop his more absurd ideas from spinning out of control. And this was coming from the person who made his living by creating robots at Augustus's request.

Little Flora finished the picture. She was indeed going to have an eventful life ahead of her, filled with more oddities than most children could imagine. In all of their strangeness, Bruno only hoped that the Reinholds and himself could do a good job of caring for her.

But those worries would come tomorrow. For today, they could all simply have this precious moment.


End file.
